Had a great lunch yesterday at Richtree Market! The Miss Teenage Canada delegates posd in front of the Taco Bus for a taco lunch. Richtree Natural Markets Inc. operates four market-style, open kitchen restaurants across Ontario. Richtree also offers delicious casual dining and takeout services. The inspired menu items use all-natural, fresh, local and in-season ingredients, including antibiotic and hormone-free meats.

The taco truck offered a choice of tacos and burritos! There were four flavours-chicken, beef, cod and vegetarian of tacos and burritos. I chose three small chicken flavoured tacos and it was delicious! The chicken itself was very tender and the chipotle was just the perfect amount of hotness, I would recommend these top grade organic tacos and burritos because they are sold for a very cheap price and because it is located centrally in Eaton Centre in downtown. The difference in the ingredients made an indelible difference on the Taco and Burrito experience and I am so glad that the Miss Teenage Canada delegates had a chance to visit the Taco truck for the week that we were here.

Make sure to check out the Richtree website at http://richtreenaturalmarket.com, the facebook at RichtreeMarket, the Twitter at @RichtreeMarket, the Instagram at RichtreeMarket

The topic of my platform is the battle against elder abuse in our society today. Seniors from all over Canada are extremely vulnerable to elder abuse; in fact, one in five Canadians know of a senior who might be experiencing some form of abuse. The platform of elder abuse is a dire one which needs to be resolved as soon as possible

What is it?

Typified as any action caused by a person in a relationship of trust causing harm and distress to seniors- elder abuse encapsulates financial abuse, emotional manipulation and physical mistreatment alike and it affects seniors in our communities even today. Although the evidence of elder abuse is mostly inconspicuous, this threat to our elders is very much relevant today. This abuse often occurs because of the abuser’s intent to influence control over an older person in most cases the abuser itself is a family member or a friend who relies on the older adult for money food and shelter.

Why I chose it/ What it means to me?

This issue is very dear to me because I know many elderly personally who are afflicted with this form of abuse on a day to day basis. Through first hand experience volunteering with the Richmond Rotary Hospice, I have discovered the extent of damage and pain elder abuse can inflict. The issue of elder abuse is so dear to me that I chose to represent it on the stage of mtc in hopes of ameliorating this issue to the best of my abilities.

What I would do to promote it?

Already I have taken the task of promoting my platform very seriously. Just this last April had founded a youth debate conference in order to advocate for this perennial issue. In the future, I hope to be the speakers of multitude of youth conferences and clubs in order to spread this issue with more youth. The more people are aware of this issue means more people are actively taking a stand to end the issue of elder abuse which is rampant in Canadian communities today.

Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world.– Jack Layton

As a fellow Canadian myself, I can attest that Canada is one of the best countries in the world. According to the UN for the seventh year in a row, Canada is ranked as the greatest country in the world in which to live. In fact, Canada is one the leading member of the G-8 Nations. Aside from being a highly developed country, with excellent working conditions, an outstanding education system, a very high standard of living and health care system ranked one of the best in the world, I am proud to be Canadian because of our tolerance for different cultures which make the Canadian society as unique as it is today. With the quality of life in Canada ranking in the top 10s, Canada provides a comfortable standard of living, good health care, social security, public education, low crime rates, a stable and growing economy, and a clean environment. Canada is a free and democratic society. The Canadian constitution, called the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, guarantees everyone the rights to equality, mobility freedom of speech, assembly and association. Although many people take our justice system for granted, I am thankful for the organization within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which grant Canadians the privileges that many other in other countries may not have access to. People around the world consider Canada a generous, peaceful and compassionate nation and in fact, Canadians are viewed as honest, friendly and polite. A 1997 survey of people in 20 countries found that the majority placed Canada in the top list of countries where they would like to live. As the second largest country in the world, Canada is a land of vast beauty. With its Atlantic and pacific coasts, vast forests, mountain ranges, lakes and vast prairies, Canada is rich in its natural resources.

After getting the sponsors cars together Miss Teenage Burnaby 2014, Ariel Cao, and I went to waterfront to meet up with the other participants of the upcoming parade. Slowly but surely, my pageant sisters trickled in and we finally had a chance reunite. I was so glad to have this opportunity to catch up with my good friends especially since we would be going to Toronto to represent BC as a team in a little over a month.

Although we had arrived at 4 and the parade would start at 7, the BC candidates utilized the time wisely by decorating the sponsor cars with Canada inspired accessories as well as putting our sponsors advertisements on the cars. Donning our sashes and crowns, each one of us beamed with pride as we sat in the cars amidst the curious bystanders who gawked at us while we prepared. Finally, after adjusting the volume of the stereo and the mics we were done with preparing the logistical side of our float.

Photographers captured this unique moment and from 6-7, the BC candidate were in over 150 photos. The whole situation of the parade was so frenetic with the combination of the surprise photoshoot that I did not have time to worry about the parade.

At 7 when the parade had finally started I was seated in the front car sponsored by Open Road Richmond and Open Road Lexus accompanied with Miss Teenage Vancouver and Miss Teenage Burnaby. Behind was Miss Teenage Okanagan and Miss Teenage British Columbia who were seated in a vintage inspired vehicle with beautiful white veneer.

The parade was such a blast! In addition to waving the Canadian flags, blowing kisses and saying hello the candidates cheered and wished all Vancouverites a Happy Canada Day. What an memorable experience!

Canada is the homeland of equality, justice and tolerance. -Kim Campbell

In the spirit of celebrating our great country Canada I was ecstatic to prepare for the upcoming appearance as a participant in the Canada Day parade in Waterfront Vancouver. In the morning of July 1st, I had a pleasure to reunite with fellow MTC2014 Miss Teenage Burnaby to receive the vehicle the Miss Teen candidates were to use in the upcoming parade. Thank you Open Road Richmond and Open Road Lexus for sponsoring our beautiful vehicles- the MTC Canada Day parade appearance could not have happened without your generosity and support!

This year I had the absolute pleasure of attending Illuminate Vancouver 2015 as a representative of MTC. The IV Conference is focused mainly on entrepreneurship, technology and personal branding. The conference not only focuses on the various applications of business, but also brings a myriad of experienced speakers who offer professional insight for aspiring business men and women who are attending the conference .

On Vancouver on June 27th at the UBC Sauder building, high school students were invited for a day of workshops and speaker panels before competing in a $1000 grand prize case competition sponsored by the FLOMO USA and the Ivey School of Business. I had an absolute learning from and interacting with professional individuals with unique backgrounds while networking at the largest student-run conference in BC!

It has been quiet sometime since the BC regional competition in March for the search of Miss Teenage Canada and I still cannot believe that I have been crowned with the incredible honor of Miss Teenage Richmond. As the days slowly inch towards August, I am eagerly anticipating the inaugural national competition. I relish the rare opportunity for me to represent my hometown on a national scale and I am eager to meet other youth role models such like myself!

Since the regional competition I have been training myself to live, eat and maintain a healthy lifestyle. This competition is definitely a once in a lifetime experience that I hold very dear to my heart. Here is to an amazing competition full of memorable experiences and lifelong friendships. Cheers 🙂

Today was the last day of our tour around Toronto! It wasn’t as jam packed as it usually is. It was more on rehearsing for the final night on Saturday! The butterflies are starting to kick in, it’s ridiculous! I’m so afraid of blacking out on stage, I hope I can win Social Media Queen and fast track to the top 20’s, or maybe even People’s Choice Awards? If you vote for me, you can definitely help me out with that! Here are the instructions on how to vote! It’s really quite simple, if you need help don’t hesitate to ask me by either writing on my Facebook Page’s Wall or by leaving me an e-mail at missteenrichmond2013@live.com! Thank you so much!

So here’s a little summary of my day! We got up at about 5:15am to get ready for the Toronto Zoo! We got to see some giant panda’s that were imported from China! They’re currently on a 10 year loan which is pretty interesting. We also got a quick glimpse of some kangaroos and polar bears! Afterwards it was rehearsals after rehearsals after rehearsals! We did however have a pretty enjoyable lunch! We received some pizza from Pizzaiolo for the sponsorship! I know the gluten girls were very pleased to have gluten free pizza!

Now the real excitement begins! After long hours of repetitive choreography, we had the opportunity to go to the Medieval Times! It was a dinner and a tournament all in one! We were served dinner as we watched knights on horses fight one another. The teams were separated into colors, such as blue, yellow, red, etc! I was on the blue team. Everyone around us were so excited, especially one of the delegates, Selena Wand! She was screaming at the top of her lungs throughout the whole night. The food they served was absolutely amazing! It was a great night!

My official Miss Teen Canada World photo is also up, you can check it out here (on your way to vote for me perhaps? ;))! It’s not exactly my best shot, but it could definitely be worst! Remember to always count your blessings!

Tomorrow is the preliminary night, the real deal. This is where all the girls will be competing to make top 20 for the final night (July 20)! Wish me luck, and pray that I don’t blank out all of a sudden! It’s going to be a fun day! Once again, please continue to vote for me as well!

Hi! I'm Mina Xue, Miss Teenage Richmond 2018!

Mina Xue, 15 years old, is a versatile, compassionate girl in Grade 10, Richmond Secondary School. After fighting against emotional struggle in the initial immigration years, she has been passionate about studying psychology in university and wants to become an art therapist. To be well-qualified for the career, she has made great efforts to make preparation. She has mastered several musical instruments: piano, flute, guitar, organ and pipa. Through years of dedicated practicing every day, she has achieved Royal Conservatory of Music piano Level 10 and is still working on ARCT level. She is the member of Richmond Delta Youth Orchestra, the School Vocal Jazz and Vancouver International School of Music. Her beautiful voice won her the third place in school singing contest. Besides music, visual arts are also her strength which will be utilised as an art therapist. She is an avid volunteer for the community. Firstly, she has been volunteering as an organist in Richmond United Church and as a flutist for its Dramatic Discovery Workshop for two years. In addition, she has been a long-term volunteer in Richmond Art Gallery. She also took great interest in volunteering in various sports events, such as Dragon Boat festival and Wheelchair Curling Bonspiel. After having lived in Canada for over 4 years, she believes the most important lesson she has got is to give.